Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

of material gathered out of every nation, and tongue, and people, of all
grades, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. These are not
dead substances to be fitted by hammer and chisel. They are living stones,
quarried out from the world by the truth; and the great Master Builder, the
Lord of the temple, is now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them for
their respective places in the spiritual temple. When completed, this temple
will be perfect in all its parts, the admiration of angels and of men; for its
Builder and Maker is God. Let no one think that there need not be a stroke
placed upon him.
There is no person, no nation, that is perfect in every habit and thought.
One must learn of another. Therefore God wants the different nationalities to
mingle together, to be one in judgment, one in purpose. Then the union that
there is in Christ will be exemplified.
I was almost afraid to come to this country because I heard so many say
that the different nationalities of Europe were peculiar and had to be reached
in a certain way. But the wisdom of God is promised to those who feel their
need and who ask for it. God can bring the people where they will receive
the truth. Let the Lord take possession of the mind and mold it as the clay is
molded in the hands of the potter, and these differences will not exist. Look
to Jesus, brethren; copy His manners and spirit, and you will have no trouble
in reaching these different classes.
We have not six patterns to follow, nor five; we have only one, and that
is Christ Jesus. If the Italian brethren, the French brethren, and the German
brethren try to be like Him, they will plant their feet upon the same
foundation of truth; the same spirit that dwells in one will dwell in the other--
Christ in them, the hope of glory. I warn you, brethren and sisters, not to
build up a wall of partition between different nationalities. On the contrary,
seek to break it down wherever it exists. We should endeavor to bring all
into the harmony that there is in Jesus, laboring for the one object, the
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